Stocks Pare Gains But Still End Up After Draghi

U.S. Market
Stocks ended the day mostly higher.

Stocks jumped initially after ECB head Mario Draghi said in a press conference today that emerging risks to the eurozone economy could lead to the central bank expanding its stimulus program. But shares pared gains in the afternoon trading as sliding oil prices held down the energy sector.

Initial unemployment claims rose by 12,000 to 282,000 last week. The less volatile four-week moving average of claims gained 3,250 to 275,000. Separately, Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that job cuts fell 61% in August from July levels but were up 2.9% from 2014 levels. The jobs data comes ahead of tomorrow’s payroll and unemployment rate report.

The ISM non-manufacturing index, which measures the strength of the services sector, fell to 59.0 in August from 60.3 in July. The July reading was the highest the index had reached since its creation in 2008.

The U.S. trade deficit was off 7.4% in July. Exports rose 0.4% from the previous month on the back of auto and industrial equipment sales. Imports were down 1.1% driven by cell phones and other electronics.

At market close the S&P 500 and Dow were each up 0.1% while the Nasdaq fell 0.4%.

Stocks on the Move
Following months of speculation, narrow-moat General Mills (GIS) finally sealed a deal to sell two of its languishing vegetable brands, Green Giant and Le Sueur, to B&G Foods BGS for $765 million, or 1.3 times trailing sales. While management intends to use the proceeds to repurchase shares and pay down debt, Morningstar’s Erin Lash also suspects that General Mills will look to free up resources to extend its reach in the U.S. natural and organics space, similar to the Annie's deal penned in 2014, as well as its distribution in faster-growing emerging markets like Indonesia and India. Shares were up 1.4% on the news.